Teeter device



W. S. TOTHILL.

TEETER DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 2|. 1 92`1.

Patented May 30, 1922.

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CDF. ness S T T E S ATENT OFFICE.

TEETER, DEVICE.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 3o, 1922.

Application filed March 21,1921. Serial No. 453,936. r

To aZZ who-m if may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM S. TorHiLL, a citizen of the United States, and a resident ofl Chicago, in the county ofCook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Teeter Devices, of

.which the followinoa is a s ecification refer- O 7 ence beingr had to the accompanying drawings. n

This invention relates to teeter devices wherein the pivoted member is usually in the form of a ladder or framework, from the opposite ends yof which two children that graspsuch ends are alternately `raised from the ground, and it is in connection with a device designed to be so used thaty my improvements are associated in the structure shown, although it is to be understood that said improvements may be equally well em-- ployed in connection with that form of teeter devices wherein the users sit upon the ends of the pivoted member referred to instead of hanging therefrom.

It ig the leading object of my invention to provide a device of the general character mentionedewith means for preventinginjury to one of the users if the other user sud- .denlyreleases hishold or removes his weight mounting the ladder on the supporting dev vice; and y Fig. 5 is a detail of the connection be= tween one of the tension springs and the plug at the upper end thereof, and'showing also the lower end of the rod that. passes through such plug.v

' Referring to the `drawings,#10 indicates a supporting standard which ypreferably is formed from a lpiece of heavy tubing as shown. When the device is erected out of doors, as it usually will be, such supporting standard may wellbe held in position byl having its lower end embedded in a cement foundation, as shown in Fig. 2. The man- .ner of securing such standard in an upright position, however, may be accomplished in any usual manner. Slidingly `mounted upon this standard is a heavy cylindrical head S11 which is adjustablyfsecured at any desired height by means of a bolt 12 passing through .said head and through any one of ya series .of holes 1n the standard.l Near the vupper end' of the head and at diametricallyfopposite `sides thereof are formed two upwardlyextending arms 18 that extend above the'up- Aper end of the head-11 and in effect'together form a yoke to whic-h the `'oscillating yor teeter member of the device is pivotal'ly attached. This oscillating or teeter `member 1s indicated generally by 14, and, iin the form of construction shown, is of ladder-like design, viz, it comprises two long side bars connected together at intervals by cross-bars7 and, by reason of such construction, this member is ordinarily'termed in the trade a yladder and will be so referred to herein, al-

though it istol be understood that the ladderylike construction referred to may be varied from without departing from my invention. The ends of the side-bar members of "this ladder are appropriately shaped, as `indicated in Fig. 2, to furnish suitable hand holds for theusers to grasp and hang `suspended from. The-ladder '14 is ofvfsuch vwidth asto have the inner faces of its side bars lie alongsideof the o uter faces of the yoke arms .13, and it is pivotally connected with such yoke arms by meansrof pivot pins .15, as best shown in Fig. 4c, and as shown in said ligure each of the pivot pins may be locked .inplace by a set-screw 16. Near the lower end ofthe head 11 and projecting therefrom in opposite directions are `two short arms 17 each of which carries a comparatively longsleeve 18 that is located at such an 1angle to the head 11 as to bring the lower end of the sleeve considerably closer to the standardlO than is its upper end. The head 11, the yoke arms 13, the arms 17 and the sleeves -18 are preferably formed integral with each other as indicated, and the arms 17 extend out 'at a right angle to the vertical plane ofthe yoke larms 13 so that the upper ends of the sleeves 18 will lbe directed substantially toward the longitudinal center of the ladder member 14.

Hthin each ofthe sleeves/18 islocated a coiled expansion spring 19k thatl is held therein by the engagement of its lower coils with the screw-threaded portion oit a plug 20 that is inserted in such lower end and held therein by a pin 21 or otherwise. In the upper end of each sleeve 19 is located another plug, indicated by 22, which, like the plug at the lower end, has a screwthreaded portion upon which vthe coils at the other end of the contained spring 19 are secured. This upper plug, however, is not secured to the sleeve as is the lower plug, but on the contrary is free to move'out ot the 4sleeve during the operation of the device.

Through each plug 22 extends a rod 23 that on its lower end is provided with any suitable device that, by contact with the lower end ofthe plug through which it passes, will be prevented from being pulled outy of such plug and when an upward pull on the rod is had will cause the plug` to expand its attached coiled spring 19 and thus draw it partially out of its containing sleeve. The upper end of each rod 23 is formed with an eye which encircles a short transverselyarranged bolt 241- carried by the `ladder member 14. As shown each rod 23 extends through an opening in a transverse bar 25 that is bolted to the side bar members of' the ladder 14C, and interposed between the top of the cross-bar and the pivot bolt 24 is a metal washer 26. The openings through the cross-bar 25 and its washer are to be wide enough, of course, so that no binding of the rod by contact with the cross-bar or washer will occur during the oscillation. of the ladder member'lll. Upon the upper end of each. sleeve 19 is mounted a heavy coiled spring 27 which will act as a buil'er in case the ladder member is turned suiiiciently to bring the' cross-pieces 25 down that tar.

Inoperation the head 1 1 will be adjusted to the desired height on the standard 10 and the hand holds at the ends ofthe ladder member will then be grasped by two children and such ladder member oscillatcd on itspivot pins 15 in the usual manner, and, ofcourseR *during such oscillation the rods 23 will alternately pull on their respective attached coiled springs 19, and each will, therefore, act to `not only limit the upward movement ol its end oi the ladder member, but upon the return downward movement will settle back into place in its sleeve and have no ei'leet on the movement oi the ladder member because, as will be readily understood, the rod on the downwardlymoving` half oi the ladder will move ireely down through its `'plug Each of the springs l9,ftherefore, will act-to slow up and to a certain extent cushion the device on the downward .movement will be resiliently checked or slowed up by the putting under tension of that spring that is at the half of the ladder that is then moving upwardly.

By reason of the construction and larrangement of the twol springsv 19 it will be apparent that the liability of injury to the apparatus, and, what is more important, liability of injury to the children using the device, will be very largely eliminated. F or example, if the child at one end drops off of his end of the ladder when such end is lower than the other the ladder at the other end can only descend to a substantially horizontal position before the coiled spring 19 `that is at that end of the ladder from which the child dropped oii will function and the other half of the ladder that the other child is on will thereby be caused to descend much more gradually. Furthermore, ijf in such case the weight of the child remaining on the ladder is suflicient to cause his end to move iar enough down the heavy coiled spring 27 at that side will also act as an additional cushioning means. p

While each rod 23 could, of course, be attached to its coiled spring 19 by'some other means than the screw-threaded plug shown and the lower end of such coiled spring could be secured in place by means other than the plug 2O that is secured in the lower end of the sleeve, I prefer such constructions not only because they form eiective devices for the purpose named, butbecause they constitute closures-the upper one oit the plugs constituting` a suiicient closure when the den vice is at rest to largely prevent the admission of foreign matter, and the lower plug constituting an effective closure that will prevent mischievously-inclined children vfrom interfering with the spring that is within the sleeve and would also prevent them from poking dirt or rubbish into such sleeve.

at I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a device of the character described, the combination of a support, a head mounted thereon, a teeter device pivotally mounted on the upper vportion of said head, arms projecting from opposite sides of said headat substantially right angles to the axis1 of the pivot of the teeter device, an outwardly and upwardly inclined spring-holding device carried by each arm, and a coiled spring` held at its lower end to each of said inclined devices and connected at its upper end to said teeter device.

2. In adevice of the character described, the combination of a support, a head mounted thereon a tecter device pivotally mounted on theupper portion oi said head, arms projecting from opposite sides of'sai'd head at substantially right angles tothe axis of the pivot of the teeter device, an outwardly and upwardly inclined tubular member car-y iso ried by each arm, a coiled spring held iny each tubular member, rand means connecting each of said springs with said teeter device.

3. In a deviceof the character described, the combination of a support, a head mounted thereon, a teeter device pivotally mount- -ed yon the upper portion of said head, arms y projecting from opposite' sides oi" said head at substantially rright angles to the axis of Ll. ln a. device ofthe character described, the combination 'of a support, a head mount-- ed thereon, a teeter device pivotally mounted on the upper portion oft said head, armsy projecting from opposite sides of said head?. at substantially right angles to the axis ot the pivot of the teeter device, an outwardly and upwardly inclined tubular member carried by each arm, an expansion spring held in each tubular member and connected with said teeter device, and a compression spring also supported at its lower end from each of the said inclined members.

5. ln a device of the character described, the combination of a support, ahead mounted thereon, a teeter device pivotally mounted on the upper portion of said head, arms projecting from opposite sides of said head at substantially right angles to the axis of i the pivot of the teeter device., an outwardly and upwardly inclined tubular member carried by each arm, an expansion spring held in each tubular member and connected with Said teeter device, and a compression spring also supported at its lower end from each of the said inclined members, veach eompression spring being of sufficiently large. diameter to permit the adjacent expansion spring to move through it. y

G. ln a device of the character described, the combination of a support, a head mounted thereon, a teeter device pivotally mounted on the upper poition of said head, arms projecting from opposite sides of said head at substantially right angles to the axis of the p-ivot of the teeter device, an outwardly and upwardly inclined tubular member carriedby eachv arm, an expansion spring held in each tubular' member, a rod connecting such springkwith said teeter device, and a compression spring surrounding said rod, saidcompression spring being held in a fixed inclined position to maintain its axisI approximately coincident with the axis of the adjacent expansion spring. i

7. ln a device of the character described, the combination of a support, a head'slidingly mounted on said support, means for securing said headin dii'lerent adjusted po-v sitions, a .pair of expansion springs connect ed at their lower ends with said head, :one

fon; each sideutheieof, a teeter device pivotally mounted on .the upper portion of said head, means connecting the upper end of Veach yexpansion vspring with said teeter device, and av pair of compression springs mounted one 4on each side of sai-d head, whereby the compression spring on one side co-iacts with theV expansion spring on the opposite side to yieldingly oppose the turning of said teeter device. l

8; In av device of the character described, the combination of a support, a head mountedfonsaid support, said head having oppositely-disposed outwardly and .upwardly ex- Y tending members, a teeter device pivotally mounted 'on said voutwardly and upwardly `extending members, a lpair of expansion springs connected .at theirlower ends with said head and having their upper ends connected with said teeter device, so that said springs alternately yieldingly oppose the turning of' saidteeter device. 1

r9. In a device of the character described, the combination of a support, a head mounted on said sup-port,said head having oppo- 'sitely-disposedoutwardly and upwardly extending members, a teeter device pivotally mounted on said outwardly and upwardly sov extending members, a pair of cross pieces on said teeter deviceone at each side yof said support, a pairv of oppositely-disposed arms connected to said head at its lower end and extendingapproximately at right angles to said outwardly and upwardly extending members, a spring mounted on each of said arms, and means connecting one of said springs with one of said cross pieces, and other means vconnecting' the other spring with the other cross-piece, whereby said springs alternately yieldingly oppose the turning of said teeter device.

10. In a device of the character described,

the combination of a support, a head mounted on said support, a teeter device pivotally mounted on said head, a pair of cross pieces on said teeter device one at each side of said support, a pair of oppositely-disposed arms connected to said head at its lower end, a sleeve connected with the outer end of each of said arms, an expansion spring mounted in each sleeve, and means connecting the upper end'of each expansion spring with one of said pair of cross pieces, re-

spectively, so that said springs alternately yieldingly oppose the turning of said teeter device.

11. In a device of the character described,

the combination of a support, a head mounted on said support, a teeterdevice pivotally mounted on said head, oppositely-disposed arms connected to said head at its lower end, sleeves extending diagonally downward I fromthe outer ends of' said arms, a plug connected to the lower end of each of said sleeves, an expansiony spring in each of said sleeves connected at its lower end to said plug, a' second plug connected to each of said expansion springs at its upper end, and means connecting` said last-mentioned plugs with said teeter device whereby said springs .alternately yieldingly opposel the turning of said teeter device.

' 1'2. In adevice of the character described, the combination of a support, a head mounted on said support, a teeter devicevpivotally mounted onsaid head, a pair of oppositelydisposed arms connected-,with said head, a sleeve extending downwardly and inwardly from the outer end of each of said arms, a

plug connected to the lower end of each of said sleeves, an expansion spring mounted in each of said sleeves and connected at its lower'end to said plug,'a plug connected to vend in each sleeve, two rods each connected at its upper end with the teeter device and `having its lower end extending into one of said sleeves and the coiled spring in said sleeve, and means carried by each spring and rod for causing said springs to" be alternately expanded during the operation of the teeter device.

` WILLIAM S. TOTHILL. 

